The Genesis Nomad (also known as Sega Nomad) is a handheld game console by Sega released in North America in October 1995. The Nomad is a portable variation of Sega's home console, the Sega Genesis (known as the Mega Drive outside North America). Designed from the Mega Jet, a portable version of the home console designed for use on airline flights in Japan, Nomad served to succeed the Game Gear and was the last handheld console released by Sega. Unique about the Nomad is its additional functionality as a home console through a video port designed to be used with a television set. Released late in the Genesis era, the Nomad had a short lifespan.

Sold exclusively in North America, the Nomad was never officially released worldwide, and employs regional lockout. Because of the timing of Nomad's release in October 1995, Nomad released to an active game library of over 500 Genesis titles, but did not include any pack-in titles itself. Sega's focus on the Sega Saturn left the Nomad undersupported, and the handheld itself was incompatible with several Genesis peripherals, including the Power Base Converter, the Sega CD, and the 32X.

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The Mega Jet, a portable Mega Drive designed for airplanes and cars, provided the design inspiration for the Genesis Nomad

The Genesis represents Sega's entry into the 16-bit era of video game consoles.[1] In Japan, Sega released the Mega Jet, a portable version of the Mega Drive designed for use on Japan Airlines flights. As a condensed version, the Mega Jet requires a connection to a television screen and a power source, and so outside of airline flights it is only useful in cars equipped with a television set and cigarette lighter receptacle.[2]

A front-to-top view of the Nomad, showing the red power switch, the "DC in" port, the cartridge input, and an "AV out" port to show the Nomad on a TV monitor

Planning to release a new handheld console as a successor to the Game Gear, Sega originally intended to produce a system which was to feature a touchscreen interface, released two years before the Game.com handheld by Tiger Electronics. However, such technology was very expensive at the time, and the handheld itself was estimated to have a high cost. Instead, Sega chose to suspend the idea and instead release the Genesis Nomad, a handheld version of the Genesis.[3] The codename used during development was "Project Venus."[4]

The Nomad was released in October 1995 in North America only.[5][4] The release was five years into the market span of the Genesis, with an existing library of more than 500 Genesis games. According to former Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the Nomad was not intended to be the Game Gear's replacement and believes that there was little planning from Sega of Japan for the new handheld.[6] Sega was supporting five different consoles: Saturn, Genesis, Game Gear, Pico, and the Master System, as well as the Sega CD and 32X add-ons. In Japan, the Mega Drive had never been successful and the Saturn was more successful than Sony's PlayStation, so Sega Enterprises CEO Hayao Nakayama decided to focus on the Saturn.[7] Sega decided to stop focusing on the Genesis in 1999, by which time the Nomad was being sold at less than a third of its original price.[8]

Similar to the Genesis and the Mega Jet, the Nomad's main CPU is a Motorola 68000. Possessing similar memory, graphics, and sound capabilities, the Nomad is nearly identical to the full-size console; the only variation that is completely self-sufficient. The Nomad has a 3.25 inch backlit color screen and also contains an A/V output that allows the Nomad to be played on a television screen—a feature unique to the Nomad. Design elements of the handheld were made similar to the Game Gear, but included six buttons for full compatibility with later Genesis releases.[8] Also included were a red power switch, headphone jack, volume dial, and separate controller input for multiplayer games. The Nomad could be powered by an AC adapter, a rechargeable battery pack known as the Genesis Nomad PowerBack,[4] or six AA batteries,[4] which provide a battery life of two to three hours.[8] The Nomad consumed more power (DC 9V, 3.5W) than Sega's earlier portable gaming console, the Game Gear (DC 9V, 3W). The Nomad also lacks a "Reset" button, which makes it impossible to complete certain games, such as the X-Men video game, which require pressing the button to finish certain objectives.

The Nomad is fully compatible with several Genesis peripherals, including the Sega Activator, Team Play Adaptor, Mega Mouse, and the Sega Channel and XBAND network add-ons. However, the Nomad is not compatible with the Power Base Converter, Sega CD, or 32X. This means that the Nomad can only play Genesis titles, whereas the standard Genesis can also play Master System, Sega CD, and 32X titles with the respective add-ons.[8]

The Nomad does not have its own game library, but instead plays Genesis games. At the time of its launch, the Nomad had over 500 games available for play. However, no pack-in title was included. The Nomad can boot unlicensed, homebrew, and bootleg games made for the Genesis. Some earlier third-party titles have compatibility issues when played on the Nomad, but can be successfully played through the use of a Game Genie. Likewise, due to its inability to accommodate the use any add-ons, it is unable to play any games for the Sega Master System, Sega CD, or Sega 32X. The Nomad employs two different regional lockout methods - physical and software, but methods have been found to bypass these.[8][9]

Reception for the Nomad is mixed between its uniqueness and its poor timing into the market. Blake Snow of GamePro listed the Nomad as fifth on his list of the "10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time," criticizing its poor timing into the market, inadequate advertising, and poor battery life.[5] Scott Alan Marriott of Allgame placed more than simply timing into reasons for the Nomad's lack of sales, stating, "The reason for the Nomad's failure may have very well been a combination of poor timing, company mistrust and the relatively high cost of the machine (without a pack-in). Genesis owners were too skittish to invest in another 16-bit system."[4] The staff of Retro Gamer, however, praised the Nomad, saying in a retrospective that Nomad was "the first true 16-bit handheld" and declared it the best variant of the Genesis.[8] In the same article, Retro Gamer notes the collectability of the Nomad, due to its low production, and states, "Had Sega cottoned on to the concept of the Nomad before the Mega Drive 2, and rolled it out as a true successor to the Mega Drive ... then perhaps Sega may have succeeded in its original goal to prolong the life of the Mega Drive in the US."[8]